Task complexity and task, goal, and reward interdependence in group performance management: A prescriptive model

Abstract

A prescriptive model on how to design effective combinations of goal setting and contingent rewards for group performance management is presented. The model incorporates the constructs task complexity, task interdependence, goal interdependence, and reward interdependence and specifies optimal fit relationships between these constructs. Four propositions address the levels of goal interdependence that should be created given certain levels of task complexity and task interdependence. Based on the assumption that reward systems should reinforce goal attainment through a level of reward interdependence that is similar to the level of interdependence created by the goals, four additional propositions are formulated. These are confronted with the results of experimental studies on the effects of reward interdependence on group performance. We argue that the research on effective combinations of goal setting and contingent rewards for the performance management of groups will benefit from studies in which: (1) both task interdependence and task complexity are taken into account, and (2) goal interdependence and rewards interdependence are manipulated separately.